Refrigerator-door fastener



July 20,1926. 1,593,372

W. R. THOMPSON REFRIGERATOR DOOR FASTENER Filed Nov. 17. 1924 Patented July 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES' vPATENT UFFICE.

WILLIAM R. THOMPSONs OF ROWAYTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T J' OHN TIEBOT,

0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

REFRIGERATOR-DOOR FASTENER.

Application filed November 17, 1924. Serial No. 750,247.

This invention rela-tes to a fastener for closures, and particularly to a fastener for use on refrigerator doors and the like, and has for an object to provide an improved fastener of simple construction which will be reliable and eiicient in operation, which will always tend to hold the closure tightly closed and which may be easily and quickly released to open the door either from the outside or the inside thereof. v With the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawin forming a part of this specification, simi ar. reference characters'being employed throughout the various figures to indicate corresponding elements. In this drawing,

Fig. 1 is a transverse section with a portion of a refrigerator door and body showing my improved fastener in position, a portion of the fastener being broken away to more clearly show the construction.

Fig. 2 is a transversesection of the fastener in securing position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a bar member used'for locking the fastener, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse section substantially on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 is shown merely in outline a portion of a wall of a refrigerator and a portion of a door 11. No attempt has been made, however, to show the construction of these members as they may be of any of the usual constructions. My improved f astenercomprises a casing or support 12 whlch may be secured to the door by any suitable means, such as lag screws 13, and this support comprises a raised portion 14 at one end thereof in which the bolt or latch 15 1s mounted. The latch in the present instance is rectangular in cross section and 1s mounted to reciprocate in suitable guide ways 16 in the raised portion of the support. It is held in this guide way by a cap plate 17 secured to the raised portion 'of the support over the bolt and its guide way by any suitable means, as screws 18. Mounted in this raised portion of the casing or support is a pair of coiled springs 19 and 20 resting against the end walls of the casing, and intermediate the adjacent ends of these springs is a transverse wall 21 forming a stop to limit the movements of these springs. Secured to the bolt or latch 15 is a lug 22 which projects between the opposed ends of these springs to be engaged thereby, and it may pass through a notch 23 in the transverse wall 21. The spring 19 is preferably a relatively heavy spring whilethespring is a fairly light sprmg.

The support 12 is provided adjacent its opposite ends with outwardly projecting lugs or ears 24 in which is pivotedl at 25 a lever 26, which lever also includes an outwardly projecting handle 27 of any desired shape but which is preferably substantially that shown having an inwardly extending free end 28 arranged to engage the top of the cap platef 17 to limit its inward movement. The lever 26 is connected by means of a link or lever 29 with the end of the bolt or latch l5, this link being pivoted to the latch 30 and the lever 26 at 31. Thus these two levers form a toggle for operating the latch. The opposite end of the latch projects from the casing 12 in position to engage a suitable keeper carried by the body of the refrigerator. This keeper in the present case comprises a pair of laterally projecting lugs 32, each of which has arecess 33 opening laterally through the side thereof toward the latch, and this recess is preferably inclined somewhat with its inner end nearer to the surface of the refrigerator than its entrance end, for a purpose presently to be described, and the latch or bolt 15 carries a pair of rollers 34 adapted to seat in these recesses. Although I have shown two lugs 32, it will, of course, be obvio-us that a single lug may be used or a single roller. These lugs may be permanently secured to the refrigerator, but I have shown means whereby they may be adjusted, if desired, to insure that the rollers 34 properly engage the side walls of the recesses 33. For this purpose a base member 35 is secured to the.

wall 10 by any suitable means, as lag screws 36, and carries an voverhanging lip 37. The lugs 32 are integral with a plate 38 which projects rearwardly from these lugs Suthciently' to seat under the overhanging lip 37 and is secured to the base member 35 by suitable screws 39 spaced-forwardly of this lip. Also carried by the member 35 are a pair of screws 40 threaded into this member and adapted at their outer ends to engage the under wall of the plate 38, and the ends of these screws are provided with non-circular openings or sockets 41 to receive the end of a wrench adapted t0 be inserted through `openings 42 in the plate 38. It is thus possible by manipulating these screws to give a slight rockin movement to the plate 38 to adjust the ugs 32 to properly engage the rollers carrled by the latch, and further and greater adjust: ments may be secured if requiredby manipulating these screws in conjunction with the screws 39. The lugs 32 on the keeper are also provided with inclined striking surfaces 43 leading to the recesses 33.

Assuming that the door is tightly closed, the elements are in the positions shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. In this position the latch or bolt 15 is projected with rollers 34 seated in the recesses 33. In this position the lug 22 carried by the bolt or latch is to the left of the transverse wall 21 so that the stronger spring 19 is compressed and tends to move the bolt away from the keeper or to the right, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. In this position the pivot 31 has passed inwardly beyond the line 44 joining the pivot 30 and the pivot 25 so that the members 26 and 29 forming the toggle hold the latch securely against this movement. The inward'movement of these elements is limited by engagement of the free end 28 of the handle 27 against the outer wall of the cap plate 17, and the relatively stiii spring 19 maintains it in this position so that there can be no accidental unlatching of the door. In releasing and opening the door all the operator is required to do is to pull outwardly on the handle 27 to the dot and dash line position, and it is to be noted that the pull on the handle is in the direction in which the door moves in opening, so that the operation of releasing the latch if continued will also open the door. The first movement of the handle will break the toggle by moving the pivot 31 outwardly, and as soon as it passes line 44 the spring 19 will retract the latch to the dotted position. The movement of the latch under this spring, however, is limited by engagement of the end of this spring with the stop wall 21. In this position the lug 22 is in the notch 23 in the transverse wall 21, but the rollers 34 are still in the recesses 33 as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. Continued outward movement of the handle 27, however, will retract the bolt or latch still further, but against the action of the relatively light sprmg 20, and ,will retract the bolt suiiiciently to allow the rollers 34 to pass out of the recesses 33, and the door may be swung o en. As soon as the handle 1s released the atch is moved backwardly part way under action of spring 2O or until the lug 22 is again in the notch 23 in the transverse wall 21. This position is such that the rollers 34 are in position to engage the inclined striking surfaces 43 of the keeper lugs when the door is again moved to closed position. Thus the door may be closed by merely slamming it shut, the inclined surfaces 43 coacting with the roller to retract the bolt, but in this movement these inclined surfaces are required to overcome only the action of the relatively light spring 20, so that a severe slamming action is not required. However, as soon as'the rollers reach the entrance of the recesses 33 the spring 19 will advance the bolt or latch suiiiciently to move these rollers part way into these recesses, or to substantially the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and this movement, because of the camming action of the rollers on the inclined walls 45 of the recesses, will force the door tightly closed without any further operation on the part of the operator. If, however, a Very tight closure is desired the operator merely swings the free end of the handle 27 inwardly to the full line position, when further movement of the rollers on the inclined surface of the notch will press the door very tightly closed. This latter movement of course, is against the action of the relatively stiff spring 19, but it is not a diiiicult operation because the toggle, comprising the members 26 and 29, is near its straight line position. It is also to be noted that when the bolt is retracted to open the door, by pulling outwardly on the handle 27 the rollers 34 will react against the inclined rear walls 46 of the recesses 33 and through their camming act-ion thereon will start the door moving outwardly or loosen it somewhat, so that should the door have a tendency to stick this camming action will start it, making the operation of opening the door a very easy one.

Means is also provided whereby the latch may be retracted and the door unfastened from the inside. A convenient means of doing this is to extend a rod 47 through the door and connect it to the member 26, as by a suitable pin connection 48 extending through elongated slots 49 in the head 50. The rod passes through a suitable mounting 5l which is provided with a chamber 52 `for a non-heat conducting packing 53, and the rod carries a handle 54 for manipulation. It will be obvious that by the use of this handle the latch may be drawn to the full line position shown in Fig. 1, or the toggle may be broken and the door unlatched.

Means may also be provided for locking the latch in the closed position. In the present instance the latch and the casing are provided with aligned transverse openings 55 and 56 respectively, through which may be inserted a rectangular bar 57 having a suitable stop 58 to limit its movement, and at its opposlte end is provided with an opening 59 for passage of the securing element of a padlock 60. When this locking means is not in use the bar may be inserted in a transverse opening 61 in the cap plate 17 where it has no eEect on the operation of the bolt, but is convenient for use when required and will not become lost.

It will be apparentI from the foregoing description that this fastener 'is very simple and rigid in construction and so is not likely to be easily gotten out of order, and that its manipulation in opening Y and closing the door is a very simple and easy one, the tog-- gle and the camming action of the rollers on the inclined surfaces of the keeper tightly closing` the door with little eifort and also making it easy to open the` door even should it have a tendency to stick.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a keeper having a recess open at one side thereof and an inclined wall leading to said recess, a movable bolt arranged to engage said inclined wall and project into the recess, apair of springs tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, a toggle for operating the bolt, and means for operating the toggle.

2. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a bolt movably mountedin said support, a pair of springs tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, a toggle for operating the bolt, and means for operating the toggle.

3. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a bolt movably mounted in said support, a pair of springs tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, a stop between the springs for limiting their action, a toggle for operating the bolt, and means for operating the toggle.

4. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a bolt slidably mountedV in said support, a pair of springs tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, a stop between the springs for limiting their action, a pair of toggle levers pivoted to the bolt and the support respectively and to each other, and means for operating one of `said levers to operate the bolt.`

5. In a device lof the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a bolt slidably mounted in said support, a pair of springs tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, a stop between the springs for limiting their action, a pair of toggle levers pivoted to the bolt and the suipport respectively and to each other, and a ever connected to one of said toggle levers for operating the'toggle and arranged to retract the bolt when drawn in a direction away from the closure.

6. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to one side of a closure, a bolt movably mounted in said support, a keeper to cooperate with the bolt, a spring tending to move the bolt away from the keeper, a toggle for operating the bolt and arranged to secure it in engagement with the keeper, means on the outside of the closure for breaking the toggle and retracting the bolt, and means accessible from the inside of the closure for breaking the toggle and retracting thel bolt.

7. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to one side of a closure, a bolt movably mounted in said support, a keeper to cooperate with the bolt, a spring tending to move the bolt away from the keeper, a toggle for operating the bolt and arranged to secure it in engagement with the keeper, a handle secured to one of the toggle levers arranged to break the toggle and retract the bolt when moved in a direction away from the closure, and means extending through the closure and operable on the opposite side thereof for breaking the toggle and retracting the bolt.

8 In a device of the character described, a keeper having a recess open at one side thereof and an inclined wall leading to said recess, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a bolt slidably mounted in said support and adapted to extend into said recess, a pair of sprin s tending to move the bolt in opposite directions, the spring tending to retract the bolt being stier than the other spring, a sto between the springs for limitlmg their action, a toggle for operating the bolt and arranged to4 hold the bolt projected into said recess against the action of the stronger spring, and means for breaking the toggle and retracting the bolt, said inclined wall being arranged to strike the bolt and` retract it against the lighter spring when the toggle is in broken position, an the closure is moved to closed position.

9. In a device of the character described, a keeper including a pair of spaced lugs having .recesses opening at one side thereof, a support adapted to be secured to a closure, a movable bolt carried by said support and adapted to seat in said recesses, and means for rocking the.` keeper in a plane transversely of the bolt to insure proper contact of the bolt with both lugs.

10. In a device of the character described,

a sup ortadapted to be secured to a door, a

mova le bolt carried by the support, a keeper arranged to be engaged by the bolt to secure the door in closed position, and means having a camming action to force the door toward open position when the bolt is retracted.

11. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a door, a slidable bolt carried by saidsupport, a keeperl arranged to be engaged by thebolt to secure thedoor in-closed position, means for reciprocating the bolt, and means having a camming action on the bolt to force the door toward open position when the bolt is retracted.

12. In a device ofthe character described, a support adapted to be secured to a door, a slidable bolt Vcarried by said support, a keeper arranged to be engaged` by the bolt to secure the door in closed position, means for reciprocating the bolt, means having a camming action on the :bolt to force the door closed when the bolt is advanced, and means having a cammng action on the bolt to force the door toward open position when the bolt is retracted.

13. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to a door, a

slidablev bolt carried by said support, a

keeper arranged to be engaged by the bolt to secure the door in closed position, a toggle for reciprocating the bolt, means for operating the to gle movable in a direction away from the oor to retract the bolt, and means carried by the keeper having a camming action on the bolt to force the door toward open position when the bolt is retracted.

14. In a device of the character described, a support adapted to be secured to one side of a closure, a bolt movably mounted in said support, a keeper to cooperate with the bolt, a toggle or operating the bolt and arranged to secure it in engagement with the keeper, and a handle secured to one of the toggle levers arranged to break the toggle and retract the bolt when moved in a direction away from the closure.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

WILLIAM R. THOlWPSON. 

